Six Nations 2014: Jonathan Davies ready to push for Wales recall against England

The Wales centre will start for the Scarlets against Munster on Saturday
evening as he hopes to stake a claim for a place in Warren Gatland's squad
for the Six Nations clash with England next weekend.

Eyeing an opening: Jonathan Davies hopes to earn a recall for Wales's clash with England next weekendPhoto: PA

By Graham Clutton

5:30PM GMT 28 Feb 2014

Jonathan Davies is hoping to prove his fitness ahead of Wales’s RBS Six Nations game against England next weekend when he turns out for the Scarlets in Saturday evening's RaboDirect Pro 12 game against Munster.

Having missed all three of Wales’s championship games to date due to a serious chest injury suffered in the autumn series defeat by South Africa, the 24-year-old centre will be added to Warren Gatland’s squad if he emerges unscathed from Saturday’s game at Parc y Scarlets.

Barring any further setbacks, he will be catapulted into the side to face England at Twickenham, paving the way for George North to return to his more familiar berth on the left wing.

North, who played his youth rugby in the centre for the Wales age-grade teams, has done a sterling job in the absence of Davies and fellow Scarlet Scott Williams, who is out of the remainder of the tournament through injury.

Still, Gatland and Rob Howley, the assistant coach, will be glad of the option with England having shown themselves to be more than adept in the midfield area so far this season.

Howley said: "We will have a chat with Jonathan after the game and see how he feels. Obviously he has been missed from the squad, he is a fine player who offers us leadership and a left-footed kicking option in the centre. It would certainly be nice to have him available again. It would be a significant boost for Wales."

The Scarlets, who are seeking a third successive victory in the competition, are also in search of a fourth home success in their last five games against the Irish provinces. Davies is the only change to the side that beat Edinburgh last Saturday, which means he will line-up alongside Olly Barkley, the former England international.

Guy Easterby, the Scarlets head coach, said: “Munster are a pretty good outfit at the minute and are pretty settled. They are still able to pick a very strong team despite missing a number of internationals. We will have to be at our best and far better defensively.

“Having narrowly missed out on a victory late on at Musgrave Park before Christmas, we’ve had plenty of motivation in training this week. We put ourselves in a really good position to win, only to give them a foothold in the dying minutes.”

With nine points from a possible 10 in the previous two rounds, Easterby added: “We had a clear vision coming back into this block of RaboDirect Pro 12 fixtures. There were 50 points up for grabs and we’re focused on being as clinical as we can be to pick up as many of those 50 points as we can.

"We just need to keep believing and keep pushing. I definitely feel that we can take confidence from the last couple of results.”

Flanker Rory Watts-Jones returns to the starting line-up as Cardiff Blues travel to Italy to face Zebre at Stadio XXV Aprile. Watts-Jones, who recently signed a new long-term deal at the region, is one of three changes to the starting line-up as Blues look for a return to winning ways.

Tom Williams is called up at fullback, with Dan Fish moving to the wing, while Chris Dicomidis is named in the second row. Wales international lock Lou Reed could make his comeback after four months ruled out as he is named among the replacements.

Phil Davies, the Cardiff director of rugby, said: “It is the last of a four-game stretch when we wanted to climb the table and so only a victory is good enough.”